The North vs South

Here it is, the age-old debate: which is better out of the North and the South of England? Doesn't it seem bizarre that there is such a large difference between two halves of such a small country? Can you believe that around 7 million Britons have never ventured across the north south divide? Three quarters of the British public actually admit that they discriminate against those from the other side of the 'divide', with northerners thinking southerners are arrogant and up themselves, and southerners thinking that northerners are backwards and bleak. So which half of the country wins?

So here it goes, the top 5 best things about the North and South:

The North:

1) The People: In general, although I hate to say it, I have found that the people in the North are so much more kind and welcoming than those in the South. Always being more willing to take the time out of their day to give you directions or just say good morning.

2) The Cost:  Everything is cheaper in the North! From houses to alcohol, it's just easier to live in the North... The average house price in the South is around £280,000, whereas in the North it is £140,000 - making it literally half as expensive to live in the North as the South.

3) The Beauty: Obviously this is a plus side for both the North and South, but there is definitely something to be said for the beauty of places such as North, on the whole it seems less ruined than the majority of the South.

4) York: The South has London, the North has York. Although these places are incomparable there is definitely something to be said for York, this is proved by the fact that it is the second biggest tourist destination after London. Considering York is tiny in comparison this is pretty impressive...

5) Community: Generally people in the North feel more of a sense of belonging to a community, this may well be due to my earlier point about the people being kinder, but I think it is also because in the lifestyle in the north doesn't seem to be so rushed and busy as it can be in the South.

The South

1) London: With hundreds of attractions including the London Eye, Madame Tussaud's, and the tower of London, the West end... the list goes on! You can be in London your whole life and still be surprised by what you find, it never gets boring.

2) The Weather: Whatever the weather is like in the North, it's always better in the South... Maybe it's because it's less windy, maybe it's warmer, and all I know is that it always seems to be nicer...

3) The Accents: (controversial, I know....) This isn't really a sound argument for why the North is better, but in general I just prefer Southern accents to Northern, the exception being Newcastle which has a great accent.

4) Cornwall: With the beaches and surfing you can sometimes forget you are still in dreary England. Although there are of course plenty of beaches in the North, I’m not sure that Blackpool measures up to Cornwall when it comes to a summer holiday.

5) The Businesses: Although it isn't easy to find a job anywhere at the moment, there are more job opportunities in the South compared to in the North. This is to be expected seeing as London is the hub of trade in England.

The worst things about the North and South have already been explained through the opposites top 5. For example the main worst things about the South are the high prices and the often rude people, whereas the worst things about the North is the weather and the fact that overall it isn't as wealthy as the south. However seeing as this is probably what makes the people kinder this is not necessarily a bad thing...

So there isn't really a better out of the two - it's purely a personal preference... In such a small country it seems silly to have such a big split and to have formed such harsh prejudices against the other side of the 'divide'. Everyone should just put their pride to their side and admit one is not better than the other - they are simply different.

Parody of the Party

The other week I went to a parody of the party 'social' at uni; this meant that everyone had to dress as their political affiliation (it was a politics social...). I didn't have a clue what to go as, i mean.. i am conservative,  but what does that mean i go as? In the end i just dressed in blue and, as a joke, printed out a Maggie Thatcher mask. This seemed like the best thing to do because it would be obvious what i was - meaning i wouldn't have to give the awkward explanation of what i was meant to be and then just get given awkward looks, whereas if i just wore blue people could partially think i was just depressed...

So, i set off to the bar, dressed from head to toe in blue with my mask on - although it was the best mask for looking out of so i had to put it on the back of my head. I had told a few friends what i was going as and they had just laughed and said 'that's brave'. I had shaken this off as a joke, thinking nothing of it, however when i got to the social i realised that this was no joke... Quite the contrary as soon as i walked in i was already getting bizarre looks and evil stares.

Now, i know that i grew up in a sort of bubble, where i live there wasn't even an local election last year because no one stood against the conservatives. So i am just used to no one being that against Thatcher... Even people who are Labour and Liberal still seem to respect her. It probably isn't just because of where i live, but also because non of the people i know at home are as politically inclined. So really doing a politics degree at uni i should have seen the whole thatcher hatred coming...

One of the funniest things that happened in the course of the night was a conversation between me and two bartenders. I was talking to a group of people and suddenly heard laughter behind me, so turned around to see two of the bartenders looking at me and saying "you literally are a two-faced bitch! No offense.." (They soon reassured me that it was nothing to do with me being a bitch personally, purely because Thatcher was, to them, a bitch). So there it was, two complete strangers felt that because i was wearing a mask with Thatcher on it they were suddenly able to call me a two faced bitch! Of course i saw the funny side of it, but that didn't make it any more shocking at the time.

If i thought that the bartenders were bad i had no clue about what was coming for the rest of the night. At one point i found myself surrounded by a group of people who turned out to be Marxists - obviously not fans of Thatcher... They were so shocked that i was a supporter of Thatcher and actually seemed insulted that i was wearing her face on the back of my head. I quickly reassured them that i didn't particularly support Thatcher, that it was just an idea i had that i thought would be apt for the social. I quickly made my way out of that particular group i managed to stay away from them for the rest of then night.

What i was most shocked about was the fact that multiple people were dressed as Sarkozy and Palin, yet that was fine because they were obviously joking, whereas me with a Thatcher mask meant that i was obviously a keen Thatcherite and supported all of her policies and therefore hated the North (which seeing as i was surrounded by Northerners wasn't a good thing).

Now i know i'm making this evening sound worse than it was, the majority of people (after me explaining that it was a joke) did see the funny side, even if a few people obviously didn't find it funny... But it was just such a different reaction than i had imagined. What was amusing was that the next day when photos appeared from the event i found that there were more of the back of my head (with my mask) than with me. Random people that i hadn't even talked to had secretly posed with the back of my head!

So although I definitely don't regret wearing the mask, I was still shocked at the response and probably won't do it again in the future. It was a great starting point for conversations, but for certain people it meant it was a definite ending point. It surprisingly took me a year to work out that people doing a politics degree actually take offense when people support something that they hate.